Ruby by Example

Appendix A. How Does Ruby Compare to Other Languages?

One of the best ways to describe something is to talk about what it isn’t. This appendix describes similarities and differences between Ruby and some other popular languages.

C

Even though it isn’t the oldest language around, C is the granddaddy of languages in many programmers’ minds. For the purposes of this discussion, we’ll be focusing more on the differences between Ruby and C than the similarities. C is procedural, meaning that its programs are intended to be thought of as sets of instructions that proceed stepwise through time: Do this, then do this, then do that. C is neither object oriented nor functional, although the closely related languages C++ and Objective C are object oriented. ...